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Killer Easy(ish) Marinara Sauce

August 21, 2009 by arfoodie

Let me issue a disclaimer up front: I am not Italian. I picked up a few tips from Italian folks on TV, but this recipe is all my own. It’s a yummy combination of a little bit of work, a little bit of cheat, considering the all-day simmering original.

I’m also not feeling the greatest today, thanks to ragweed season, so I’m gonna keep it short. (Hooray, the reader says.) I’ll get more into the ratatouille later.

Marinara Sauce Mise en PlaceThe mise en place (all your ingredients set out beforehand) looks remarkably like a pantry shelf, and therein is the beauty.

This couldn’t be simpler. Get out your biggest pot. No, no, not the gargantuan pasta boiler for 30, but pretty big. Open the following cans and dump in:

  • Two 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes (use San Marzano for an upgrade)
  • One 28 oz. can of tomato sauce
  • One half of a 6 oz. can of tomato paste
  • Two tablespoons beef demi-glace (optional)
  • One half-cup dry red wine (optional, especially if you use the demi-glace)

Also get together the following:

  • Two garlic cloves
  • Five to eight fresh basil leaves
  • Two sprigs fresh thyme
  • One sprig fresh rosemary
  • Dried onion flakes
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepper grinder

I like my sauce pretty herby and spicy, so if you don’t, just cut down on the herbage.

Press the garlic cloves directly into the pot. If you don’t have a press, GET ONE for goodness sakes, but meanwhile you could mince them to death until they’re almost paste.

The basil part is pretty fun. Sure, you could throw in some dried basil, and I’ve done it before. But my mom had bushes of the stuff begging to be used.

Basil chiffonadeLay all the leaves on top of one another in a stack, then roll upChopped Basil the stack. Cut the roll into slices, and you’ll end up with lovely little ribbons called chiffonade. This refers to both the resulting ribbons and the technique. Now, chop up your ribbons (or don’t, up to you) and dump into your pot.

Next, hold the sprig of thyme securely on the woody stem end. With fingers of the other hand, strip off the leaves while pulling away with the stem. Put your results in the pot.

Rosemary, we have a problem. You’re too woody and bristly to just go right in. We don’t enjoy chewing you or picking you out of our teeth. So, you’re just gonna have to get pulverized.

Rosemary + Kosher SaltUse the same technique as the thyme to remove the rosemary leaves onto a cutting board. Add a bit of kosher salt for traction, and using a chef’s knife, chop the bloody heck out of it. Get as close as you can to a grainy paste. Rosemary CarnageAdd to the mix.

Now add about three tablespoons of dried onion flakes. I’m actually allergic to the fresh variety, so I got stuck on doing it this way. It’s easier, and you get to skip the traditional step of sweating the onions and garlic.

If you like a little heat, add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Word to the wise: kids don’t usually like this.

Add kosher salt (I did about two tablespoons, but I like salt!) and about a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

Whisk everything together; you’ll have to put a little effort into breaking up the tomato paste and demi-glace. Cover and bring to a boil, then take back to a simmer, uncovered, for as long as you can….let’s say at least twenty minutes, and one hour would be better. All day is not necessary.

Confession: I HATE having tomato spatter all over my cooktop, so my sauce usually spends a good bit of time with the lid just cocked sideways. But I don’t get the evaporation necessary to get a really fabulous, rich sauce as quickly that way. Guess I need to invest in one of those spatter shields.

This should be enough sauce to use for one meal and freeze for one or two more.

Ratatoullie

Morgan and I made our ratatouille tonight (OK OK, I’ll give you one photo), and froze the remainder in two gallon freezer bags.

P.S. Sorry about the grainy, poorly lit photos. I’ve taken to using my iPhone for just about everything, but the camera just isn’t cutting it in the kitchen light. Will try other ones.

P.P.S. Guess I lied about keeping it short. But you’re still reading! 😛

Happy cooking!

Filed Under: Main Course Tagged With: basil, herbs, marinara, pasta, sauce, tomato, tomatoes

Beef Bruschetta with Fairy Tale Eggplants

August 20, 2009 by arfoodie

Beef Bruschetta with Fairy Tale Eggplants

I’m a little apprehensive about this post. We’re getting into an area I’ve never done before – writing recipes! I tend to go into the kitchen with guns blazing, with no measurements and often no complete idea of what the dish will be until it’s close to done. That was tonight!

We’ll just write this in a stream-of-consciousness fashion and hope it works.

Tuesday, the kids and I dropped by the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in Argenta (downtown North Little Rock). For some reason, I had never been. I’ll detail that trip later (local honey! watermelons! bliss!), other than to say my purchases included some beautiful squash and fairy tale eggplants.

Fairy Tale EggplantsI had never seen these cute little eggplants before, and really don’t even care for eggplant. But the young man from Hardin Farms was packing up to leave, and I just couldn’t allow them back on that truck.

What to do, what to do….

I pulled them out tonight, cut off the tops and halved them. Then I dipped each cut side (tops included) into a dish of kosher salt, and placed them cut side down on a drying rig (a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet). The salt draws out moisture and bitterness from veggies, and I wanted to do both.
Eggplant drippings

In the process of salting and turning over the eggplants.

One hour later, you can see the drippings on the sheet. Now, you can’t tell me that’s not a cool food trick.

Brushed EggplantsI wiped off the salt and moisture, brushed on a one-to-one mixture of balsamic vinegar and olive oil and placed under a medium-high broiler for three minutes. (Mine is adjustable; if yours isn’t, no worries…check on it after one or two minutes.) Standard broiler procedure, until you’re really comfortable with a recipe: don’t walk away. And don’t add any more salt yet, or they’ll get soggy.

When they’re browned to your liking, take ’em out and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve quickly, before the salt draws out more moisture!

OK, the eggplant has been taken care of. My moral obligation to use up what beauties I purchased has been met, at least for tonight. On to the main course, which, of course, was prepared at the same time.

In case you didn’t know, bruschetta is basically toast and toppings, usually something cheesy and something tomato-y. But just about anything can be used for the topping. Hubby wanted meat.

Brushin' the breadI purchased a lovely loaf of Italian bread at my local Kroger for a measly $2 and sliced it into one inch slices. I brushed on some olive oil and placed them on a baking stone in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. (Again, times will vary…just watch and touch until they’re crunchy and slightly browned on the edges.) If you don’t have a stone, a baking sheet would be fine. After coming out of the oven,  I sprinkled on some kosher salt, thyme and finely ground pepper.

Here’s the easy part: Open a can of diced tomatoes. If you’re really a purist and want to chop your own, by all means, do it. Rinse and drain in a strainer. Stir in some chopped basil. (You could REALLY cheat and use one of those cans with the Italian herbs already in!) Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. If you like, add minced garlic. Tomato topping done.

Next, my favorite cheap, fancy protein…flank steak. I purchased a nice one-pound specimen for about $5.

I hope at this point that you’ve read all the way through before cooking (gosh, is anyone really cooking from my blog?). This should be the FIRST step!

Put the flank in a gallon storage bag, along with equal amounts of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, about four tablespoons each. Throw in a crushed garlic clove or two (I realized I was out and had to use powder), about 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, and two whole green onions, crushed a bit and torn into pieces. I left this on the kitchen counter to marinate for about 30 minutes, but you can put it in the fridge for longer, even overnight.

Get a grill pan (or regular grill) smokin’ hot over medium high heat, pull out theFlank steak in the pan steak while removing as much marinade and chunkage as possible, and lay it on. Cook about 3 minutes each side, without moving the steak around.

Slicing the flank steakLet the steak rest for at least 10 minutes, then move it to a cutting board. Cut thin strips against the grain. Mine was beautiful but still a bit rare in the middle for the kids, so I put the strips back in the pan for a minute. (I know, blasphemy!)

Now, assemblage. There are no rules. If you don’t care for tomatoes, skip it. Want some mozzarella? Add it. I piled on the ‘maters and laid a couple strips of beef across them. Serve the eggplants on the side.

Whew, I’m exhausted, how about you? I would just do take-out tomorrow, but I’ve GOT to use up those gorgeous yellow squash and bell peppers. I think it shall be ratatouille, in the style of Ratatouille, the movie. Morgan’s request.

And that means homemade tomato sauce. A great, much simpler recipe for tomorrow!

Filed Under: Appetizer, Main Course Tagged With: Beef, bruschetta, eggplant, fairy tale, flank, flat iron, tomatoes

And so it begins…. Hemp Oil!

August 20, 2009 by arfoodie

I suppose I should start this blog with a little explanation of what it is.

Here’s the deal…I’m obsessed with food. When I was a tween, during summers and weekends, I would stay up at night and cook things my mom wouldn’t let me make during the day. Sometimes she knew, most times she didn’t…she eventually resigned to the idea and just asked that I clean up when I was done. As for what I do, I sell full spectrum hemp oil. If you’re not sure what it is just check out the link. It’s a similar thing to the other cannabis products on the market, in short. You know, like rosin wax and the like. The difference is it is edible so you can just injest it rather than smoke it.

Simply by following recipes and using the trusty Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, which included basic method instructions, I made all kinds of wonderful things. Cookies. Taffy. Wonton soup. And eventually, things like chocolate soufflé.

Even then, I found myself leaning toward the extravagant, more challenging side of cooking.

Fast forward ten years or so.

Having also found a passion and talent for writing as a child, I followed that path until it landed me at Arkansas State University as a Journalism major, with an emphasis in public relations. I loved the broad-spectrum nature of public relations and marketing (still do), and chased a career through the agency, non-profit and consulting worlds.

And then….there was my daughter.

My beloved daughter. She is seven today, and is the model of all things you would wish a child would be, most days. But as a baby, she just about killed me.

She was born a little early, about a month. Just enough to be “fully cooked,” but just short of a fully evened-out nervous system, as I read later on. Result: screaming colic until 4 a.m. daily.

What does this  have to do with food, you may ask? Well, while I was trying to maintain my sanity on no sleep, I discovered Food Network.

To this day, “Good Eats” reminds me of early evenings, rocking her at the beginning of our daily showdown. “Unwrapped” was the midnight struggle toward the bed. And “Emeril Live” was victory…late afternoon, after a tiny bit of sleep and enough time to sort of recover and feel a little human.

Emeril and I became good friends. When I finally got human enough to start cooking real meals again, about six months into the baby ordeal, my hubby was eating quite well.

And I rediscovered my old flame. (Cooking, that is.)

Today I find myself in new phase of life, one in which the possibilities are limitless. With a loving hubby, baby #2 (a boy, who actually SLEEPS!) and a little experience under my belt, I am hoping I can tie all my loves into one digital adventure.

I thought I would invite you along on my journey to culinary nirvana. Won’t you come along?

Filed Under: learning Tagged With: babies, cooking, Food Network, learning

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